What's up, all! First post here on Liberal Gun Owners of Lemmy. I thought I'd share my most recent addition. I've wanted one of these for a while but they were pretty scarce for the last couple years. When I saw the 5.56 back in stock I jumped on. I love that it takes AR mags and 5.56 ammo. It's not my most practical purchase but I'm happy to own it.
Looks nice! Out of curiosity, why did you want 5.56 in a bolt-action?
That's a good question. It mostly came down to that I already have 5.56 ammo on hand, and mags that fit this rifle. I could have purchased one in 350 legend or 450 bushmaster sooner, and they may have even had 7.62x39 in stock at some point while I had my eye out for the 5.56. Any of those would have probably been a better choice for hunting, as the small game around here can be handled with a rimfire rifle, and for big game 5.56 and .223 are a little too light. This rifle will honestly mostly just punch paper and be fired at the range from a bench. I think my family will enjoy shooting it and it should help them get a better feel for shooting bolt action rifles. I have a hunting rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor that I would use for any big game hunting and I would probably use a .22 for small game since around here that's mostly just rabbit and squirrel.
Other reasons I really like this rifle are its low cost, light weight, short barrel and overall length, and that it's made by Ruger, but those are all true of the other calibers they offer this model in as well.